Bill Polian built Super Bowl teams as general manager in Buffalo and Indianapolis and an expansion team in Carolina that went to the NFC Championship in its second year. Let's look at how the Dolphins measure up against his five rules for building a contending team

1. Enough balance between the offense and defense to win 12 games. The Dolphins were 26th in scoring (19.8 points a game) last year and 8th in scoring defense (20.9 points). You can see the imbalance there. If Joe Philbin's goal of 25 points a game is met it takes away a lot of questions about this team. The hope is Ryan Tannehill's third season, Bill Lazor's new system, a rebuilt offensive line and a decent NFL running back in Knowshown Moreno change the production. And the defense? Can it maintain that standing in points (to give the bigger picture, it ranked 21st in total defense at 359.4 yards a game). The ideal for this year is the offense pulls its weight more than last year and creates a balanced team.

2. A quarterback durable enough to play 14 games who can win in the last two minutes. Ryan Tannehill clearly has the first part down. Tough? Durable? He got sacked 58 times last year and played every game last year. He played every game as a rookie. Now, for the second part: Tannehill had five, fourth-quarter comebacks last year and four game-winning drives (Atlanta, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, New England). That suggests he's there. But his fourth-quarter stats last year (67.7 rating, five touchdowns, seven interceptions) show where he has to improve.

3. A pass rush to close games. Cameron Wake (8.5 sacks) and Oliver Vernon (11.5) were one of the better pass-rushing tandems in the league at end. Randy Starks (4) and Jared Odrick (4.5) have shown the ability to rush from the inside. The Dolphins' defensive line is the strength of the team. But let's not over-do this. With those good stats, the Dolphins finished 11th in the league in sacks, They got what must be a league-low 3.5 sacks from their starting linebackers. Dion Jordan hasn't developed as a pass rusher and is suspended the opening four games. Derrick Shelby is the lone back-up with any background at end. In other words, the Dolphins have a good pass rush from the defensive line so long as everyone stays healthy or a rookie like linebacker Chris McCain develops quickly.

4. A secondary to get off the field on third downs. This secondary should be good - if it can keep everyone on the field. Reshad Jones misses four games to suspension. That shifts Jimmy Wilson into his safety position. Brent Grimes is a shut-down corner and free-agent-buy Cortland Finnegan once was. They're also over 30 years old with histories of injury. Louis Delmas can make big plays at safety. He also has shown signs of injury in his career. So, if whole, this secondary can be good. Whether it can stay healthy is one of the storylines to this defense's hopes.

5. No glaring weakness. The Dolphins need some development in areas here. They appear to have glaring weaknesses in the middle of the offensive line until Pouncey returns and in the linebacking corps. Teams will attack these points. The first three opponents have talented interior defensive linemen in New England's Vince Wilfork, Buffalo's Kyle Williams and Marcellus Dareus and Kansas City's Dontari Poe to cause the interior of the Dolphins line problems. The linebackers? They didn't have impact last year and are at new positions.